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Joblessness in October was lower than a year ago in 35 of Washington state’s 39 counties, according to new Employment Security Department data.

King County’s unemployment rate was 5.4 percent last month, up from 5.3 percent in September but down from 6.4 percent in October 2012. Pierce County’s rate rose to 7.5 percent from 7.1 percent in September. Still, that was down from 7.9 percent a year ago.

In Snohomish County, joblessness rose a tenth of a percentage point over the month to 6.0 percent. But that was well below its year-ago rate of 7.0 percent.

The county unemployment data are not seasonally adjusted for month-to-month fluctuations and are based on a household survey.